Visitors, click to subscribe below today for immediate unlimited access to UnionLeader.com and our e-Edition, a page-for-page replica of the newspaper. Subscribers help us deliver trusted news, information and resources to connect the Granite State.

Patriots to name Schiano defensive coordinator

Greg Schiano is set to fill the defensive coordinator post with the New England Patriots, effectively replacing new Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores.

Multiple reports indicated a deal with the Patriots was imminent.

Flores, who maintained the title of linebackers coach in 2018 after Matt Patricia left to become head coach of the Detroit Lions, was the defensive play-caller for New England. He worked closely with head coach Bill Belichick to devise game plans and make in-game adjustments.

The 52-year-old Schiano is a longtime ally of Belichick, whose son, Steve Belichick, was a long snapper at Rutgers. Belichick has praised Schiano for developing NFL talent while he was at Rutgers and most recently defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

“He’s one of the very best coaches I think in our profession,” Belichick said of Schiano in 2017. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg and the way he runs his program and the job that he does. I would say the most impressive thing for me is the way that our players, which we’ve had a lot of Rutgers players come through here, the loyalty and the I would say love of the program, the college program that they were in at Rutgers when he was there, how they maintained that for years and years after they had left.”

At Rutgers, Schiano posted a 68-67 record, and he got a shot as an NFL head coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012. He went 11-21 with the Bucs before being fired.

Safety Devin McCourty and cornerback Jason McCourty played at Rutgers, as did Duron Harmon.

Flores, 37, was given a five-year guaranteed deal to become head coach of the Dolphins on Monday, one day after steering a dominant defensive performance in New England’s 13-3 Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams.